Teachings are What the Buddha Taught, p
basically in response to capabilities. There are distinctions and differences in the scriptures because the capabilities [of sentient beings] are not the same. The golden words in a beautiful voice [i.e. the Buddha’s sermons] all share a commonality in the sense that they are all words of the Buddha. Therefore we use the two terms of “shared” and “distinct” [with regard to teaching].

With regard to practice: sentient beings can enter nirvāṇa, the true Dharma treasure [house], through various gates. It is like the cause [for rebirth in a physical saṃsāric] body was explained variously by five hundred monks, and the Buddha said that none were incorrect.⁴

Thirty-two bodhisattvas each entered a [different] gate of non-duality [each gave a different interpretation of non-duality], yet Mañjuśrī approved of them all.⁵ The Ta Chih tu lun⁶ clarifies that all ānāpāna breathing meditations⁷ are [included in] the Mahāyāna, because they are all unattainable.⁸ One should know that practices are distinct, but that which is to be realized is the same. Guṇabhadra says that “although all the [Buddhist] treatises appear to be different, the reality [underlying] practice⁹ is the same.”¹⁰

Concerning reality: though it is non-dual, it has many names. The Ta Chih tu lun [Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom] says, “Prajn͂ā-wisdom is a single dharma, though the Buddha explains it with many terms.”¹¹ The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says that liberation is also like this: it has many terms.¹² It is like Indra, the Lord of Heaven, who has a thousand different names.¹³ Since the names are different there are distinctions. Since the reality is one there is shared commonality.

Now, to call [the Lotus Sūtra] the “Sūtra” of “the subtle Dharma” reflects the shared commonality and the distinctiveness of its teachings. To speak of “A great cart given to all the sons equally”¹⁴ and “They rode this jeweled vehicle directly to the place of enlightenment¹⁵ reflects the shared commonality and distinctiveness of practice. Or, to speak of the “true aspects of reality”¹⁶ or to speak of “the Buddha’s knowledge and insight”¹⁷ or of” Mahāyāna,” or of “household chores”¹⁸ or of the “single ground”¹⁹ or of “real thing”²⁰ or of “the place of treasures”²¹ or of “the jewel sown”²² [in the garment] or of “great undifferentiating wisdom,”²³ these all refer to the shared and distinct [aspects] of reality.²⁴ Based on these three meanings [of teaching, practice, and reality] I have established the two terms [of shared and distinct].

4

In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra five hundred monks question Śāriputra about the cause for being reborn in saṃsāra, and each give their understanding of the answer which led to their gaining of arhatship. Some said that ignorance and passion were the cause for rebirth in saṃsāra, others attributed it to attachment, the five desires, karma, and so forth. Śāriputra asked the Buddha which of these five hundred monks was right, and the Buddha answered that “None are incorrect.” return

5

In the eighth chapter of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra on the subject of non-duality, thirty-one bodhisattvas (Mañjuśrī makes the thirty-second) each expound on their understanding of “entry into the doctrine of non-duality” (ādvaya-dharmamukhapraveśa). Mañjuśrī praises them all, saying that they have “all spoken well.” However, Mañjuśrī adds the criticism that since they have all used words to describe their understanding of non-duality, their explanations still imply duality. There follows the famous scene where Mañjuśrī asks Vimalakirti his opinion of non-duality, and Vimalakirti remains silent, thus perfectly “expressing” the meaning of non-duality. return

6

The Shakusen kōgi refers to the Ta Chih tu lun “section 48-3” (T. 25, 402a?) but I was unable to find a corresponding passage. See Bukkyō taikei-I, 421. return

7

Meditation based on counting one’s breaths. In China it was usually considered a “Hinayāna” type meditative technique. return

8

This phrase is used often by Chih-i to describe the ultimate “unattainability” of the goal of practice. Since all is empty of eternal substantial Being, there is no thing to be attained. Another interpretation or use of this phrase is that what is being described is beyond conceptualization, i.e. one cannot grasp conceptually where these dharmas originate, where they go, what they are, and so forth, because they are empty. return

9

Or, “the principle of practice.” return

10

Guṇabhadra was a Brahman from central India who came to China in the early fifth century A.D. See biography in the Kao seng chuan, T. 50, 340a—342b. This quote is found near the end of his biography on 342a21. return

11

The verse continues with, “Different terms are applied in accordance with the capacity of sentient beings.” return

12

See the section of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra which expands on the meaning of liberation, T. 12, 632a26-635c8; Yamamoto I, 115-130. return

13

See the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, T. 12, 810b8-12; Yamamoto Ill, 830. return

14

See the parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 14c17-18; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 71. return

15

See the parable of the burning house in the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 15a13; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 74. return

16

A term used often in the Ta Chih tu tun, Lotus Sūtra, and T’ien-t’ai philosophy to refer to the positive aspects of reality. See the section in the second chapter of the Lotus Sūtra on “Expedient Means,” T. 9, 5a—b; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 22ff. Or, in the introduction to the Lotus Sūtra, “The doctrine of the reality-marks of the dharmas I have already preached to you ” (Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 19). return

17

Another important phrase in the chapter on “Expedient Means” in the Lotus Sūtra. See T. 9, 7a-b; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 30ff. return

18

These are tasks assigned to the prodigal son by his rich father to help him mature. See the parable of the prodigal son in the Lotus Sūtra; Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 87, T. 9, 16b-17. return

19

Ekabhūmi. This refers to the one earth which acts as the basis for the growth of various plants and trees. See the parable of medicinal herbs in the fifth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 19b5. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 101-102 translates as follows: “A thick cloud spreads out, covering the whole thousand-millionfold world and raining down on every part of it equally at the same time, its infusions reaching everywhere. The grass and trees, the shrubs and forests, and the medicinal herbs – whether of small roots, stalks, branches, and leaves, or of middle-sized roots, stalks, branches, and leaves, or of large roots, stalks, branches, and leaves – and also all trees, great and small, whether high, intermediate, or low, all receive some of it. Everything rained on by the same cloud in keeping with its nature gains in size, and its blossoms and fruit spread out and bloom. Though produced by the same earth, and moistened by the same rain, yet the grasses and trees all have their differences.” return

20

Another phrase from the fifth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra: T. 9, 20b22. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 109, translates the context as follows: “Kāśyapa, let it be known that, when by invoking causes and conditions and a variety of parables I demonstrate the Buddha Path, this is my expedient device. The other Buddhas are also this way. Now, for your sakes, I preach the most true reality. return

21

Another name for the ultimate goal of Buddhahood or nirvāṇa. Used to refer to the goal of the travelers in the parable of the magical castle, Lotus Sūtra chapter seven, T. 9, 26a24. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 148, translates, “There is a great multitude wishing to traverse this road to arrive at a cache of precious jewels.” return

22

This refers to the parable of the jewel sown in the poor friend’s coat, in Chapter Eight of the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 29a. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 164-165 translates this section as follows: “There is a man who arrives at the house of a close friend, where he gets drunk on wine, then lies down. At that time, his friend, having official business, is on the point of going away, when he sews a priceless jewel into the interior of the first man’s garment and departs, leaving it with him. The first man, laid out drunk, is unaware of anything. When he has recovered, he sets out on his travels, then reaches another country, where he devotes every effort to the quest for food and clothing. He suffers such hardship that he is content with however little he may get. Then his friend, encountering him by chance, speaks these words to him: ‘Alas, Sir! How can you have come to this for the sake of mere food and clothing? Once, I, wishing to afford you comfort and joy, as well as the natural satisfaction of your five desires, in such-and-such a year, on a certain day of a certain month, sewed a priceless jewel into the inside of your garment. Surely it is still there. Yet you, not knowing of it, have suffered pain and grief in quest of a livelihood. How foolish you have been! Now you need only take this jewel, exchange it for what you need and have things always as you wish, suffering neither want nor shortage.’ The Buddha is also thus. return

23

A phrase from the eleventh chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, T. 9, 32b28—29. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 183, translates the context: “How excellent, O Śākyamuni, O World-Honored One, that with great undifferentiating wisdom you can teach the bodhisattva-dharma, that you can preach to the great multitudes the Scripture of the Blossom of the Fine Dharma, which Buddhas keep protectively in mind.” return

24

All of these concepts, phrases, and parables illustrate the idea that although reality is verbally and conceptually differentiated on a conventional level, it is ultimately One. return